Three Wishes (Michael Clifford a.u.)

10//skipping

"You don't need to apologize so much," I said. "I was stupid, too. I should have thought my- well, you know- out more. I was too overexcited. I might have ruined some of my best friend's lives. I didn't mean for any of it to happen the way it happened. And now I'm too cowardly to go to school to confront my mistake. Just so you know, I'm not going to fix this with my last wi- yeah...I don't want to lose you. You're my friend. I'm not just going to kick you out of my life. I'd hate myself. Forever..."

"About that," he said suddenly, helping me down onto my bed. "I haven't told you something about how the magic works."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Michael...?"

"When you make your last wish," he started slowly, "it's granted, and then...I disappear. But it's more than just that. I leave and...you forget I ever existed."

My eyes grew wide.

"No," I whispered. "No, I could never forget about you."

"It isn't a choice you or I have," he replied. "I wish I could do something about it, but it happens every time. It was difficult for me to figure out, but sometimes my lamp doesn't travel too far from its last spot. I see my past holders and they see me but they don't recognize me. It's the worst feeling in the world, Karina. It's going to happen to you, too, and I hate knowing that. I didn't want you to know, so it wouldn't hurt you as much, but I realize now that it wouldn't matter for you, anyway. It's just me being selfish. I was trying to spare my own feelings."

"Stop that," I said, trying to force back the tears I could feel building in my eyes. "I feel shitty enough already. I just...I won't use the last one. Then you won't have to go through me forgetting you!"

"You can't get out of it that easily," he said, shaking his head. "I wish you could, but everyone slips up and says 'I wish' by accident at some point. It's either that or you need to use it. You can't escape using it, no matter how hard you try. Everyone disappears at some point. It's just the inevitable."

I dropped my gaze from his face to my feet.

"So...I'm going to lose you no matter what?" I murmured.

He sighed before pulling me back into a hug.

"Try to stay positive, Kay," he said. "It's okay. It isn't happening yet, unless you slip up or you want it to. It's okay."

My phone began to buzz on the bed next to me.

I sniffed before pulling out of the hug to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked, sounding congested from my mini-cry.

"Where are you?" It was Ashton. "Luke and Cal both came to talk to me when they got to school. They came at the same time and when they saw each other they started blushing. Blushing! They walked away two seconds after that, so I didn't get anything out of them. I kind of need your help right now."

"I'm home sick," I replied. "I didn't sleep at all last night, and it's kind of related to that. Umm...how am I supposed to put this?"

I looked over at Michael, knowing he could hear what was happening. He shrugged, a look of guilt creeping onto his face. I sent him a sympathetic look in an attempt to make him feel better, probably not doing a very good job of it.

"Kay? What happened?" Ashton asked, reminding me that he was on the line still.

"Can I just say it has something to do with Michael?" I said, ready for a scolding before it even happened.

"Karina...what did you do?"

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get out of this with such a vague answer.